1. Awareness of man's freedom and dignity, together with the
affirmation of the inalienable rights of individuals and peoples, is one
of the major characteristics of our time. But freedom demands conditions
of an economic, social, political and cultural kind which makes possible
its full exercise. A clear perception of the obstacles which hinder its
development and which offend human dignity is at the source of the
powerful aspirations to liberation which are at work in our world.

The Church of Christ makes these aspirations her own, while
exercising discernment in the light of the Gospel which is by its very
nature a message of freedom and liberation. Indeed, on both the
theoretical and practical levels, these aspirations sometimes assume
expressions which are not always in conformity with the truth concerning
man as it is manifested in the light of his creation and redemption. For
this reason the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has
considered it necessary to draw attention to "deviations, or risks
of deviation, damaging to the Faith and to Christian living."[1]
Far from being outmoded, these warnings appear ever more timely and
relevant.

Purpose of the instruction

2. The Instruction <Libertatis nuntius> (On Certain Aspects of
the Theology of Liberation) stated the intention of the Congregation to
publish a second document which would highlight the main elements of the
Christian doctrine on freedom and liberation. The present instruction
responds to that intention. Between the two documents there exists an
organic relationship. They are to be read in the light of each other.

With regard to their theme, which is at the heart of the Gospel
message, the Church's Magisterium has expressed itself on many
occasions.[2] The present document limits itself to indicating its
principal <theoretical> and <practical> aspects. As regards
applications to different local situations, it is for the local
Churches, in communion with one another and with the See of Peter, to
make direct provision for them.[3]

The theme of freedom and liberation has an obvious ecumenical
dimension. It belongs to the fact of the traditional patrimony of the
Churches and ecclesial communities. Thus the present document can assist
the testimony and action of all Christ's disciples, called to respond to
the great challenges of our times.

The truth that makes us free

3. The words of Jesus: "The truth will make you free" (Jn.
8:32) must enlighten and guide all theological reflection and all
pastoral decisions in this area.

This truth which comes from God has its center in Jesus Christ, the
Savior of the world.[4] From Him, who is "the way, and the truth,
and the life" (Jn. 14:6), the Church receives all that she has to
offer to mankind. Through the mystery of the Incarnate Word and Redeemer
of the world, she possesses the truth regarding the Father and His love
for us, and also the truth concerning man and his freedom.

Through His cross and resurrection, Christ has brought about our
redemption, which is liberation in the strongest sense of the word,
since it has freed us from the most radical evil, namely sin and the
power of death. When the Church, taught by her Lord, raises to the
Father her prayer: "Deliver us from evil," she asks that the
mystery of salvation may act with power in our daily lives. The Church
knows that the redeeming cross is truly the source of light and life and
the center of history. The charity which burns in her impels her to
proclaim the Good News and to distribute its life-giving fruits through
the sacraments. It is from Christ the Redeemer that her thought and
action originate when, as she contemplates the tragedies affecting the
world, she reflects on the meaning of liberation and true freedom and on
the paths leading to them.

Truth, beginning with the truth about redemption, which is at the
heart of the mystery of faith, is thus the root and the rule of freedom,
the foundation and the measure of all liberating action.

Truth, the condition for freedom

4. Man's moral conscience is under an obligation to be open to the
fullness of truth; he must seek it out and readily accept it when it
presents itself to him.

According to the command of Christ the Lord,[5] the truth of the
Gospel must be presented to all people, and they have a right to have it
presented to them. Its proclamation, in the power of the Spirit,
includes full respect for the freedom of each individual and the
exclusion of every form of constraint or pressure.[6]

The Holy Spirit guides the Church and the disciples of Jesus Christ
"into the full truth" (Jn. 16:13). The Spirit directs the
course of the centuries and "renews the face of the earth"
(Ps. 104:30). It is He who is present in the maturing of a more
respectful awareness of the dignity of the human person.[7] The Holy
Spirit is at the root of courage, boldness and heroism: "Where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor. 3:17).

Chapter 1

The State of Freedom in the World Today

I. Achievements and Dangers of the Modern Liberation Process

The heritage of Christianity

5. By revealing to man his condition as a free person called to enter
into communion with God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has evoked an
awareness of the hitherto unsuspected depths of human freedom.

Thus the quest for freedom and the aspiration to liberation, which
are among the principal signs of the times in the modern world, have
their first source in the Christian heritage. This remains true even in
places where they assume erroneous forms and even oppose the Christian
view of man and his destiny. Without this reference to the Gospel, the
history of the recent centuries in the West cannot be understood.

The modern age

6. Thus it is that from the dawn of modern times, at the Renaissance,
it was thought that by a return to antiquity in philosophy and through
the natural sciences man would be able to gain freedom of thought and
action, thanks to his knowledge and control of the laws of nature.

Luther, for his part, basing himself on his reading of St. Paul,
sought to renew the struggle for freedom from the yoke of the Law, which
he saw as represented by the Church of his times.

But it was above all in the Age of the Enlightenment and at the
French Revolution that the call to freedom rang out with full force.
Since that time, many have regarded future history as an irresistible
process of liberation inevitably leading to an age in which man, totally
free at last, will enjoy happiness on this earth.

Towards the mastery of nature

7. With the perspective of such an ideology of progress, man sought
to become master of nature. The servitude which he had experienced up to
that point was based on ignorance and prejudice. By wresting from nature
its secrets, man would subject it to his own service. The conquest of
freedom thus constituted the goal pursued through the development of
science and technology. The efforts expended have led to remarkable
successes. While man is not immune from natural disasters, many natural
dangers have been removed. A growing number of individuals is ensured
adequate nourishment. New means of transport and trade facilitate the
exchange of food resources, raw materials, labor and technical skills,
so that a life of dignity with freedom from poverty can be reasonably
envisaged for mankind.

Social and political achievements

8. The modern liberation movement had set itself a political and
social objective. It was to put an end to the domination of man by man
and to promote the equality and brotherhood of all. It cannot be denied
that in this sphere, too, positive results have been obtained. Legal
slavery and bondage have been abolished. The right of all to share in
the benefits of culture has made significant progress. In many countries
the law recognizes the equality of men and woman, the participation of
all citizens in political life, and equal rights for all. Racism is
rejected as contrary to law and justice. The formulation of human rights
implies a clearer awareness of the dignity of all human beings. By
comparison with previous systems of domination, the advances of freedom
and equality in many societies is undeniable.

Freedom of thought and of decision

9. Finally and above all, the modern liberation movement was supposed
to bring man inner freedom, in the form of freedom of thought and
freedom of decision. It sought to free man from superstition and
atavistic fears, regarded as so many obstacles to his development. It
proposed to give man the courage and boldness to use his reason without
being held back by fear before the frontiers of the unknown. Thus,
notably in the historical and human sciences, there developed a new
notion of man, professedly to help him gain a better self-understanding
in matters concerning his personal growth or the fundamental conditions
for the formation of the community.

Ambiguities in the modern process of liberation

10. With regard to the conquest of nature, or social and political
life, or man's self-mastery on both the individual and collective level,
anyone can see that the progress achieved is far from fulfilling the
original ambitions. It is also obvious that new dangers, new forms of
servitude and new terrors have arisen at the very time that the modern
liberation movement was spreading. This is a sign that serious
ambiguities concerning the very meaning of freedom have from the very
beginning plagued this movement from within.

Man threatened by his domination of nature

11. So it is that the more man freed himself from the dangers of
nature, the more he experienced a growing fear confronting him. As
technology gains an ever greater control of nature, it threatens to
destroy the very foundations of our future in such a way that mankind
living today becomes the enemy of the generations to come. By using
blind power to subjugate the forces of nature, are we not on the way to
destroying the freedom of the men and women of tomorrow? What forces can
protect man from the slavery of his own domination? A wholly new
capacity for freedom and liberation, demanding an entirely renewed
process of liberation, becomes necessary.

Dangers of technological power

12. The liberating force of scientific knowledge is objectively
expressed in the great achievements of technology. Whoever possesses
technology has power of the earth and men. As a result of this, hitherto
unknown forms of inequality have arisen between those who possess
knowledge and those who are simple users of technology. The new
technological power is linked to economic power and leads to a
concentration of it. Thus, within nations and between nations,
relationships of dependence have grown up which within the last twenty
years have been the occasion for a new claim to liberation. How can the
power of technology be prevented from becoming a power of oppression
over human groups or entire peoples?

Individualism and collectivism

13. In the field of social and political achievements, one of the
fundamental ambiguities of the affirmation of freedom in the age of the
Enlightenment has to do with the concept of the subject of this freedom
as an individual who is full self- sufficient and whose finality is the
satisfaction of his own interests in the enjoyment of earthly goods. The
individualistic ideology inspired by this concept of man favored the
unequal distribution of wealth at the beginning of the industrial era to
the point that workers found themselves excluded from access to the
essential goods which they had helped to produce and to which they had a
right. Hence the birth of powerful liberation movements from the poverty
caused by industrial society.

Certain Christians, both lay persons and pastors, have not failed to
fight for a just recognition of the legitimate rights of workers. On
many occasions the Magisterium of the Church has raised its voice in
support of this cause.

But more often than not the just demands of the worker movement have
led to new forms of servitude, being inspired by concepts which ignored
the transcendental vocation of the human person and attributed to man a
purely earthly destiny. These demands have sometimes been directed
towards collectivist goals, which have then given rise to injustices
just as grave as the ones which they were meant to eliminate.

New forms of oppression

14. Thus it is that our age has seen the birth of totalitarian
systems and forms of tyranny which would not have been possible in the
time before the technological leap forward. On the one hand, technical
expertise has been applied to acts of genocide. On the other, various
minorities try to hold in thrall whole nations by the practice if
terrorism. Today control can penetrate into the innermost life of
individuals, and even the forms of dependence created by the early
warning systems can represent potential threats of oppression.

A false liberation from the constraints of society is sought in
recourse to drugs which have led many young people from all over the
world to the point of self-destruction and brought whole families to
sorrow and anguish.

Danger of total destruction

15. The recognition of a juridical order as a guarantee of
relationships within the great family of peoples is growing weaker and
weaker. When confidence in the law no longer seems to offer sufficient
protection, security and peace are sought in mutual threats, which
become a danger for all humanity. The forces which ought to serve the
development of freedom serve instead the increase of threats. The
weapons of death drawn up against each other today are capable of
destroying all human life on earth.

New relationships of inequality

16. New relationships of inequality and oppression have been
established between the nations endowed with power and those without it.
The pursuit of one's own interest seems to be the rule for international
relations, without the common good of humanity being taken into
consideration.

The internal balance of the poor nations is upset by the importation
of arms, which introduces among them a divisive element leading to the
domination of one group over another. What powers could eliminate
systematic recourse to arms and restore authority to law?

Emancipation of young nations

17. It is in the context of the inequality of power relationships
that there have appeared movements for the emancipation of young
nations, generally the poor ones, until recently subjected to colonial
domination. But too often the people are frustrated in the hard-won
independence by unscrupulous regimes or tyrannies which scoff at human
rights which impunity. The people thus reduced to powerlessness merely
have a change of masters.

It remains true that one of the major phenomena of our time, of
continental proportions, is the awakening of the consciousness of people
who, bent beneath the weight of age-old poverty, aspirate to a life of
dignity and justice and are prepared to fight for their freedom.

Morality and God: obstacles to liberation?

18. With reference to the modern liberation movement within man
himself, it has to be stated that the effort to free thought and will
from their limits has led some to consider that morality as such
constitutes an irrational limit. It is for man, now resolved to become
his own master, to go beyond it.

For many more, it is God Himself who is the specific alienation of
man. There is said to be a radical incompatibility between the
affirmation of God and of human freedom. By rejecting belief in God,
they say, man will become truly free.

Some agonizing questions

19. Here is the root of the tragedies accompanying the modern history
of freedom. Why does this history, in spite of great achievements which
also remain always fragile, experience frequent relapses into alienation
and see the appearance of new forms of slavery? Why do liberation
movements which had roused great hopes result in regimes for which the
citizens' freedom,[8] beginning with the first of these freedoms which
is religious freedom,[9] become enemy number one?

When man wishes to free himself from the moral law and become
independent of God, far from gaining his freedom he destroys it.
Escaping the measuring rod of truth, he falls prey to the arbitrary;
fraternal relations between people are abolished and give place to
terror, hatred and fear.

Because it has been contaminated by deadly errors about man's
condition and his freedom, the deeply-rooted modern liberation movement
remains ambiguous. It is laden both with promises of true freedom and
threats of deadly forms of bondage.

II. Freedom in the Experience of the People of God

Church and freedom

20. It is because of her awareness of this deadly ambiguity, that
through her Magisterium the Church has raised her voice over the
centuries to warn against aberrations that could easily bring enthusiasm
for liberation to a bitter disillusionment. She has often been
misunderstood in so doing. With the passage of time however it is
possible to do greater justice to the Church's point of view.

It is in the name of the truth about man, created in the image of
God, that the Church has intervened.[10] Yet she is accused of thereby
setting herself up as an obstacle on the path to liberation. Her
hierarchical constitution is said to be opposed to equality, her
Magisterium to be opposed to freedom of thought. It is true that there
have been errors of judgment and serious omissions for which Christians
have been responsible in the course of the centuries;[11] but these
objections disregard the true nature of things. The diversity of
charisms in the People of God, which are charisms of service, is not
opposed to the equal dignity of persons and to their common vocation to
holiness.

Freedom of thought, as a necessary condition for seeking the truth in
all fields of human knowledge, does not mean that human reason must
cease to function in the light of the Revelation which Christ entrusted
to His Church. By opening itself to divine truth, created reason
experiences a blossoming and a perfection which are an eminent form of
freedom. Moreover, the Second Vatican Council has recognized fully the
legitimate autonomy of the sciences,[12] as well as of activities of a
political nature.[13]

The freedom of the little ones and the poor

21. One of the principal errors that has seriously burdened the
process of liberation since the Age of the Enlightenment comes from the
widely held conviction that it is the progress achieved in the fields of
the sciences, technology and economics which should serve as a basis for
achieving freedom. This was a misunderstanding of the depths of freedom
and its needs.

The reality of the depth of freedom has always been known to the
Church, above all through the lives of a multitude of the faithful,
especially among the little ones and the poor. In their faith, these
latter know that they are the object of God's infinite love. Each of
them can say: "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20b). Such is the dignity which none
of the powerful can take away from them; such is the liberating joy
present in them. They know that to them too are addressed Jesus' words:
"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know
what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I
have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn. 15:15).
This sharing in the knowledge of God is either emancipation from the
dominating claims of the learned: "You all know...and you have no
need that anyone should teach you" (1 Jn. 2:20b, 27b). They are
also aware of sharing in the highest knowledge to which humanity is
called.[14] They know that they are loved by God, the same as all other
people and more than all other people. They thus live in the freedom
which flows from truth and love.

Resources of popular piety

22. The same sense of faith, possessed by the People of God in its
hope-filled devotion to the cross of Jesus, perceives the power
contained in the mystery of Christ the Redeemer. Therefore, far from
despising or wishing to suppress the forms of popular piety which this
devotion assumes, one should take and deepen all its meaning and
implications.[15] Here we have a fact of fundamental theological and
pastoral significance; it is the poor, the object of God's special love,
who understand best and as it were instinctively that the most radical
liberation, which is liberation from sin and death, is the liberation
accomplished by the death and resurrection of Christ.

Salvific and ethical dimensions of liberation

23. The power of this liberation penetrates and profoundly transforms
man and his history in its present reality and animates his
eschatological yearning. The first and fundamental meaning of liberation
which thus manifests itself is the salvific one: man is freed from the
radical bondage of evil and sin.

In this experience of salvation, man discovers the true meaning of
his freedom, since liberation is the restoration of freedom. It is also
education in freedom, that is to say, education in the right use of
freedom. Thus to the salvific dimension of liberation is linked its
ethical dimension.

A new phase in the history of freedom

24. To different degrees, the sense of faith, which is at the origin
of a radical experience of liberation and freedom, has imbued the
culture and the customs of Christian peoples.

But today, because of the formidable challenges which humanity must
face, it is in a wholly new way that it has become necessary and urgent
that the love of God and freedom in truth and justice should mark
relations between individual and peoples and animate the life of
cultures.

For where truth and love are missing, the process of liberation
results in the death of a freedom which will have lost all support.

A new phase in the history of freedom is opening before us. The
liberating capacities of science, technology, work, economics and
political activity will produce results only if they find their
inspiration and measure in the truth and love which are stronger than
suffering: the truth and love revealed to men by Jesus Christ.

Chapter II

Man's Vocation to Freedom and the Tragedy of Sin

I. Preliminary Approaches to Freedom

A spontaneous response

25. The spontaneous response to the question: "What does being
free mean?" is this: a person is free when he is able to do
whatever he wishes without being hindered by an exterior constraint and
thus enjoys complete independence. The opposite of freedom would
therefore be the dependence of our will upon the will of another.

But does man always know what he wants? Can he do everything he
wants? Is closing in on oneself and cutting oneself off from the will of
others in conformity with the nature of man? Often the desire of a
particular moment is not what a person really wants. And in one and the
same person there can exist contradictory wishes. But above all man
comes up against the limits of his own nature: his desires are greater
than his abilities. Thus the obstacle which opposes his will does not
always come from outside, but from the limits of his own being. This is
why, under pain of destroying himself, man must learn to harmonize his
will with his nature.

Truth and justice, rules of freedom

26. Furthermore, every individual is oriented toward other people and
needs their company. It is only by learning to unite his will to the
others for the sake of true good that he will learn rectitude of will.
It is thus harmony with the exigencies of human nature which makes the
will itself human. This in fact requires the criterion of truth and a
right relationship to the will of others. Truth and justice are
therefore the measure of true freedom. By discarding this foundation and
taking himself for God, man falls into deception, and instead of
realizing himself he destroys himself.

Far from being achieved in total self-sufficiency and an absence of
relationships, freedom truly exists only where reciprocal bonds,
governed by truth and justice, link people to one another. But for such
bonds to be possible, each person must live in the truth.

Freedom is not the liberty do anything whatsoever. It is the freedom
to do good, and in this alone happiness is to be found. The good is thus
the goal of freedom. In consequence, man becomes free to the extent that
he comes to a knowledge of the truth, and to the extent that this truth—and
not any other forces—guides his will. Liberation for the sake of a
knowledge of the truth which alone directs the will is the necessary
condition for a freedom worthy of the name.

II. Freedom and Liberation

Freedom for the creatures

27. In other words, freedom which is interior mastery of one's own
acts and self-determination immediately entails a relationship with the
ethical order. It finds its true meaning in the choice of moral good. It
them manifests itself as emancipation from moral evil.

By his free action, man must tend towards the supreme good through
lesser goods, which conform to the exigencies of his nature and his
divine vocation.

In exercising his freedom, he decides for himself and forms himself.
In this sense man is his own cause. But he is this only as a creature
and as God's image. this is the truth of his being which shows by
contrast how profoundly erroneous are the theories which think they
exalt the freedom of man or his "historical praxis" by making
this freedom the absolute principle of his being and becoming. These
theories are expressions of atheism or tend towards atheism by their own
logic. Indifferentism and deliberate agnosticism go in the same
direction. It is the image of God in man which underlies the freedom and
dignity of the human person.[16]

The call of the Creator

28. By creating man free, God imprinted on him His own image and
likeness.[17] Man hears the call of his Creator in the inclination and
aspiration of his own nature towards the Good, and still more in the
word of Revelation, which was proclaimed in a perfect manner in the
Christ. It is thus revealed to man that God created him free so that by
grace man could enter into friendship with God and share His life.

A shared freedom

29. Man does not take his origin from his own individual or
collective action, but from the gift of God who created him. This is the
first confession of our Faith, and it confirms the loftiest insights of
human thought.

The freedom of man is a shared freedom. His capacity for
self-realization is in no way suppressed by his dependence on God. It is
precisely the characteristic of atheism to believe in an irreducible
opposition between the causality of a divine freedom and that of man's
freedom, as though the affirmation of God meant the negation of man, or
as though God's intervention in history rendered vain the endeavors of
man. In reality, it is from God and in relationship with Him that human
freedom takes its meaning and consistency.

Man's free choice.

30. Man's history unfolds on the basis of the nature which he has
received from God and in the free accomplishment of the purpose towards
which the inclinations of this nature and of divine grace orient and
direct him.

But man's freedom is finite and fallible. His desire may be drawn to
an apparent good: in choosing a false good, he fails in his vocation to
freedom. By his free will, man is master of his own life: he can act in
a positive sense or in a destructive one.

By obeying the divine law inscribed in his conscience and received as
an impulse of the Holy Spirit, man exercises true mastery over himself
and thus realizes his royal vocation as a child of God. "By the
service of God he reigns."[18] Authentic freedom is the
"service of justice," while the choice of disobedience and
evil is the "slavery of sin."[19]

Temporal liberation and freedom

31. This notion of freedom clarifies the scope of temporal
liberation: it involves all the processes which aim at securing and
guaranteeing the conditions needed for the exercise of an authentic
human freedom.

Thus it is not liberation which in itself produces human freedom.
Common sense, confirmed by Christian sense, knows that even when freedom
is subject to forms of conditioning it is not thereby completely
destroyed. People who undergo terrible constraint succeed in manifesting
their freedom and taking steps to secure their own liberation. A process
of liberation which has been achieved can only create better conditions
for the effective exercise of freedom. Indeed, a liberation which does
not take into account the personal freedom of those who fight for it is
condemned in advance to defeat.

III. Freedom and Human Society

The rights of man and his "freedoms"

32. God did not create man as a "solitary being" but wished
him to be a "social being."[20] Social life therefore is not
exterior to man: he can grow and realize his vocation only in relation
with others. Man belongs to different communities: the family and
professional and political communities, and it is inside these
communities that he must exercise his responsible freedom. A just social
order offers man irreplaceable assistance in realizing his free
personality. On the other hand, an unjust social order is a threat and
an obstacle which can compromise his destiny.

In the social sphere, freedom is expressed and realized in actions,
structures and institutions, thanks to which people communicate with one
another and organize their common life. The blossoming of a free
personality, which for every individual is a duty and a right, must be
helped and not hindered by society.

Here we have an exigency of a moral nature which has found its
expression in the formulation of the <Rights of Man>. Some of
these have as their object what are usually called "the
freedoms," that is to say ways of recognizing every human being's
character as a person responsible for himself and his transcendent
destiny, as well as the inviolability of his conscience.[21]

Man's social dimension and the glory of God

33. The social dimension of the human being also takes on another
meaning: only the vast numbers and rich diversity of people can express
something of the infinite richness of God.

Finally, this dimension is meant to find its accomplishment in the
Body of Christ which is the Church. This is why social life, in the
variety of its forms and to the extent that it is in conformity with the
divine law, constitutes a reflection of the glory of God in the
world.[22]

IV. Human Freedom and Dominion Over Nature

Man's call to master nature

34. As a consequence of his bodily dimension, man needs the resources
of the material world for his personal and social fulfillment. In this
vocation to exercise dominion over the earth by putting it at his
service through work, one can see an aspect of the image of God.[23] But
human intervention is not "creative"; it encounters a material
nature which like itself has its origin in God the Creator and of which
man has been constituted the "noble and wise guardian."[24]

Man, the master of his works

33. Technical and economic transformations influence the organization
of social life; they cannot help but affect to some extent cultural and
even religious life.

However, by reason of his freedom man remains the master of his
activity. The great and rapid transformations of the present age face
him with a dramatic challenge: that of mastering and controlling by the
use of his reason and freedom the forces which he puts to work in the
service of the true purposes of human existence.

Scientific discoveries and moral progress

36. It is the task of freedom then, when it is well ordered, to
ensure that scientific and technical achievements, the quest for their
effectiveness, and the products of work and the very structures of
economic and social organization, are not made to serve projects which
would deprive them of their human purposes and turn them against man
himself.

Scientific activity and technological activity each involve specific
exigencies. But they acquire their properly human meaning and value only
when they are subordinated to moral principles. These exigencies must be
respected; but to wish to attribute to them an absolute and necessary
autonomy, not in conformity with the nature of things, is to set out
along a path which is ruinous for the authentic freedom of man.

V. Sin, the Source of Division and Oppression

Sin, separation from God

37. God calls man to freedom. In each person there lives a desire to
be free. And yet this desire almost always tends towards slavery and
oppression. All commitment to liberation and freedom therefore
presupposes that this tragic paradox has been faced.

Man's sin, that is to say his breaking away from God, is the radical
reason for the tragedies which mark the history of freedom. In order to
understand this, many of our contemporaries must first rediscover a
sense of sin.

In man's desire for freedom there is hidden the temptation to deny
his own nature. Insofar as he wishes to desire everything to be able to
do everything and thus forget that he is finite and a created being, he
claims to be a god. "You will be like God" (Gn. 3:5). These
words of the serpent reveal the essence of man's temptation; they imply
the perversion of the meaning of his own freedom. Such is the profound
nature of sin: man rejects the truth and places his own will above it.
By wishing to free himself from God and be a god himself, he deceives
himself and destroys himself. He becomes alienated from himself.

In this desire to be a god and to subject everything to his own good
pleasure, there is hidden a perversion of the very idea of God. God is
love and truth in the fullness of the mutual gift of the Divine Persons.
It is true that man is called to be like God. But he becomes like God
not in the arbitrariness of his own good pleasure but to the extent that
he recognizes that truth and love are at the same time the principle and
the purpose of his freedom.

Sin, the root of human alienation

38. By sinning, man lies to himself and separates himself from his
own truth. But seeking total autonomy and self-sufficiency, he denies
God and denies himself. Alienation from the truth of his being as a
creature loved by God is the root of all other forms of alienation.

By denying or trying to deny God, who is his Beginning and End, man
profoundly disturbs his own order and interior balance and also those of
society and even of visible creation.[25]

It is in their relationship to sin that Scripture regards all the
different calamities which oppress man in his personal and social
existence.

Scripture shows that the whole course of history has a mysterious
link with the action of man who, from the beginning, has abused his
freedom by setting himself up against God and by seeking to gain his
ends without God.[26] Genesis indicates the consequences of this
original sin in the painful nature of work and childbirth, in man's
oppression of woman and in death. Human beings deprived of divine grace
have thus inherited a common mortal nature, incapable of choosing what
is good and inclined to covetousness.[27]

Idolatry and disorder

39. Idolatry is an extreme form of disorder produced by sin. The
replacement of adoration of the living God by worship of created things
falsifies the relationships between individuals and brings with it
various kinds of oppression.

Culpable ignorance of God unleashes the passions, which are causes of
imbalance and conflicts in the human heart. From this there inevitably
come disorders which affect the sphere of the family and society: sexual
license, injustice and murder. It is thus that St. Paul describes the
pagan world, carried away by idolatry to the worst aberrations which
ruin the individual and society.[28]

Even before St. Paul, the prophets and wise men of Israel saw the
misfortunes of the people as a punishment for their sin of idolatry; and
in the "heart full of evil" (Eccl. 9:3),[29] they saw the
source of man's radical slavery and of the forms of oppression which he
makes his fellow men endure.

Contempt for God and a turning towards creatures.

40. The Christian tradition, found in the Fathers and Doctors of the
Church, has made explicit this teaching of Scripture about sin. It sees
sin as contempt for God (<contemptus Dei>). It is accompanied by a
desire to escape from the dependent relationship of the servant to his
Lord, or still more of the child to its Father. By sinning, man seeks to
free himself from God. In reality, he makes himself a slave. For by
rejecting God he destroys the momentum of his aspiration to the infinite
and of his vocation to share in the divine life. This is why his heart
is a prey to disquiet.

Sinful man who refuses to accept God is necessarily led to become
attached in a false and destructive way to creatures. In this turning
towards creatures (<>conversio ad creaturam) he focuses on the
latter his unsatisfied desire for the infinite. But created goods are
limited; and so his heart rushes from one to another, always searching
for an impossible peace.

In fact, when man attributes to creatures an infinite importance, he
loses the meaning of his created being. He claims to find his center and
his unity in himself. Disordered love of self is the other side of
contempt for God. Man then tries to rely on himself alone; he wishes to
achieve fulfillment by himself and to be self-sufficient in his own
immanence.[30]

Atheism, a false emancipation of freedom

41. This becomes more particularly obvious when the sinner thinks
that he can assert his own freedom only by explicitly denying God.
Dependence of the creature upon the Creator, and the dependence of the
moral conscience upon the divine law, are regarded by him as an
intolerable slavery. Thus he sees atheism as the true form of
emancipation and of man's liberation, whereas religion or even the
recognition of a moral law constitute forms of alienation. Man then
wishes to make independent decisions about what is good and what is
evil, or decisions about values; and in a single step he rejects both
the idea of God and the idea of sin. It is through the audacity of sin
that he claims to become adult and free, and he claims this emancipation
not only for himself but for the whole of humanity.

Sin and unjust structures

42. Having become his own center, sinful man tends to assert himself
and to satisfy his desire for the infinite by the use of things: wealth,
power and pleasure, despising other people and robbing them unjustly and
treating them as objects or instruments. Thus he makes his own
contribution to the creation of those very structures of exploitation
and slavery which he claims to condemn.

Chapter III

I. Liberation and Christian Freedom

Gospel, freedom and liberation

43. Human history, marked as it is by the experience of sin, would
drive us to despair if God had abandoned His creation to itself. But the
divine promises of liberation, and their victorious fulfillment in
Christ's death and resurrection, are the basis of the "joyful
hope" from which the Christian community draws the strength to act
resolutely and effectively in the service of love, justice and peace.
The Gospel is a message of freedom and a liberating force[31] which
fulfills the hope of Israel based upon the words of the prophets. This
hope relied upon the action of Yahweh, who even before He intervened as
the "goel,"[32] liberator, Redeemer and Savior of His people
had freely chosen that people in Abraham.[33 ] I. Liberation in the Old
Testament

The Exodus and the liberating acts of Yahweh

44. In the Old Testament, the liberating action of Yahweh which
serves as model and reference for all others is the Exodus from Egypt,
"the house of bondage." When God rescues His people from hard
economic, political and cultural slavery, He does so in order to make
them, through the Covenant on Sinai, "a kingdom of priests and a
holy nation" (Ex. 19:6). God wishes to be adored by people who are
free. All the subsequent liberations of the people of Israel help to
lead them to this full liberty that they can find only in communion with
their God.

The major and fundamental event of the Exodus therefore has a meaning
which is both religious and political. God sets His people free and
gives them descendants, a land and a law, but within a Covenant and for
a Covenant. One cannot therefore isolate the political aspect for its
own sake; it has to be considered in the light of a plan of a religious
nature within which it is integrated.[34]

The law of God

45. In His plan of salvation, God gave Israel its law. This
contained, together with the universal moral precepts of the Decalogue,
religious and civil norms which were to govern the life of the people
chosen by God to be His witness among the nations.

Of this collection of laws, love of God above all things[35] and of
neighbor as oneself[36] already constitutes the center. But the justice
which must govern relations between people, and the law which is its
juridical expression, also belong to the sum and substance of the
biblical law. The codes and the preaching of the prophets, as also the
psalms, constantly refer to both of them, very often together.[37] It is
in this context that one should appreciate the biblical law's care for
the poor, the needy, the widow and the orphan: they have a right to
justice according to the juridical ordinances of the People of God.[38]
Thus there already exist the ideal and the outline of a society centered
upon worship of the Lord and based upon justice and law inspired by
love.

The teaching of the prophets

46. Prophets constantly remind Israel of the demands made by the law
of the Covenant. They condemn man's hardened heart as the source of
repeated transgressions, and they foretell a New Covenant in which God
will change hearts by writing on them the law of His Spirit.[39]

In proclaiming and preparing for this new age, the prophets
vigorously condemn injustice done to the poor: they make themselves
God's spokesmen for the poor. Yahweh is the supreme refuge of the little
ones and the oppressed, and the Messiah will have the mission of taking
up their defense.[40]

The situation of the poor is a situation of injustice contrary to the
Covenant. This is why the law of the Covenant protects them by means of
precepts which reflect the attitude of God Himself when He liberated
Israel from the slavery of Egypt.[41] Injustice to the little ones and
the poor is a grave sin and one which destroys communion with God.

The "poor of Yahweh"

47. Whatever the form of poverty, injustice and affliction they
endure, the "just" and the "poor of Yahweh" offer up
their supplications to Him in the psalms[42]. In their hearts they
suffer the servitude to which the "stiff-necked" people are
reduced because of their sins. They endure persecution, martyrdom and
death; but they live in hope of deliverance. Above all, they place their
trust in Yahweh, to whom they commend their cause.[43]

The "poor of Yahweh" know that communion with Him[44] is
the most precious treasure and the one in which man finds his true
freedom.[45] For them, the most tragic misfortune is the loss of this
communion. Hence their fight against injustice finds its deepest meaning
and its effectiveness in their desire to be freed from the slavery of
sin.

On the threshold of the New Testament

48. On the threshold of the New Testament, the "poor of
Yahweh" make up the first fruits of a "people humble and
lowly" who live in hope of the liberation of Israel.[46]

Mary, personifying this hope, crosses the threshold from the Old
Testament. She proclaims with joy the coming of the Messiah and praises
the Lord who is preparing to set His people free.[47] In her hymn of
praise to the divine mercy, the humble Virgin, to whom the people of the
poor turn spontaneously and so confidently, sings of the mystery of
salvation and its power to transform. The <sensus fidei,> which is
so vivid among the little ones, is able to grasp at once all the
salvific and ethical treasures of the <Magnificat>.[48]

II. Christological Significance of the Old Testament

In the light of Christ

49. The Exodus, the Covenant, the law, the voices of the prophets and
the spirituality of the "poor of Yahweh" achieve their full
significance only in Christ. The Church reads the Old Testament in the
light of Christ who died and rose for us. She sees a prefiguring of
herself in the People of God of the Old Covenant, made incarnate in the
concrete body of a particular nation, politically and culturally
constituted as such. This people was part of the fabric of history as
Yahweh's witness before the nations until the fulfillment of the time of
preparation and the pre-figurement. In the fullness of time which came
with Christ, the children of Abraham were invited to enter, together
with all the nations, into the Church of Christ in order to form with
them one People of God, spiritual and universal.[49]

III. Christian Liberation

The Good News proclaimed to the poor

50. Jesus proclaims the Good News of the kingdom of God and calls
people to conversion.[50] "The poor have the good news preached to
them" (Mt. 11:5). By quoting the expression of the prophet,[51]
Jesus manifests His messianic action in favor of those who await God's
salvation.

Even more than this, the Son of God who has made Himself poor for
love of us[52] wishes to be recognized in the poor, in those who suffer
or are persecuted:[53] "As you did it to one of the least of these
my brethren, you did it to me."[54]

The paschal mystery

51. But it is above all by the power of His paschal mystery that
Christ has set us free.[55] Through His perfect obedience on the cross
and through the glory of His resurrection, the Lamb of God has taken
away the sin of the world and opened for us the way to definitive
liberation.

By means of our service and love, but also by the offering up of our
trials and sufferings, we share in the one redeeming sacrifice of
Christ, completing in ourselves "what is lacking in Christ's
affliction for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Cor.
1:24), as we look forward to the resurrection of the dead.

Grace, reconciliation and freedom

52. The heart of the Christian experience of freedom is in
justification by the grace received through faith and the Church's
sacraments. This grace frees us from sin and places us in communion with
God. Through Christ's death and resurrection we are offered forgiveness.
The experience of our reconciliation with the Father is the fruit of the
Holy Spirit. God reveals Himself to us as the Father of mercy, before
whom we can come with total confidence.

Having been reconciled with Him,[56] and receiving this peace of
Christ which the world cannot give,[57] we are called to be peacemakers
among all men.[58]

In Christ, we can conquer sin, and death no longer separates us from
God; death will finally be destroyed at our resurrection, which will be
like that of Jesus.[59] The "cosmos" itself, of which man is
the center and summit, waits to be "set free from its bondage to
decay and to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God"
(Rom. 8:21). Even now Satan has been checked; he who has the power of
death has been reduced to impotence by the death of Christ.[60] Signs
are given which are a foretaste of the glory to come.

Struggle against the slavery of sin

53. The freedom brought by Christ in the Holy Spirit has restored to
us the capacity, which sin had taken away from us, to love God above all
things and remain in communion with Him.

We are set free from disordered self-love, which is the source of
contempt of neighbor and of human relationships based on domination.

Nevertheless, until the risen One returns in glory, the mystery of
iniquity is still at work in the world. St. Paul warns of us this:
"For freedom Christ has set us free" (Gal. 5:1). We must
therefore persevere and fight in order not to fail once more under the
yoke of slavery. Our existence is a spiritual struggle to live according
to the Gospel and it is waged with the weapons of God.[61] But we have
received the power and the certainty of our victory over evil, the
victory of the love of Christ whom nothing can resist.[62]

The Spirit and the law

54. St. Paul proclaims the gift of the New Law of the Spirit in
opposition to the law of the flesh or of covetousness which draws man
towards evil and makes him powerless to choose what is good.[63] This
lack of harmony and this inner weakness do not abolish man's freedom and
responsibility, but they do have a negative effect on their exercise for
the sake of what is good. This is what causes the Apostle to say:
"I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I
do" (Rom. 7:19). Thus he rightly speaks of the "bondage of
sin" and the "slavery of the law," for to sinful man the
law, which he cannot make part of himself, seems oppressive.

However, St. Paul recognizes that the law still has value for man and
for the Christian, because it "is holy and what it commands is
sacred, just and good" (Rom. 7:12).[64] He reaffirms the Decalogue,
while putting it into relationship with that charity which is its true
fullness.[65] Furthermore, he knows well that a juridical order is
necessary for the development of life in society.[66] But the new thing
he proclaims is God's giving us His Son "so that the Law's just
demands might be satisfied in us" (Rom. 8:1).

The Lord Jesus Himself spelled out the precepts of the New Law in the
Sermon on the Mount; by the sacrifice He offered on the cross and by His
glorious resurrection He conquered the power of sin and gained for us
the grace of the Holy Spirit which makes possible the perfect observance
of God's law[67] and access to forgiveness if we fall again into sin.
The Spirit who dwells in our hearts is the source of true freedom.

Through Christ's sacrifice, the cultic regulations of the Old
Testament have been rendered obsolete. As for the juridical norms
governing the social and political life of Israel and the Apostolic
Church, inasmuch as it marked the beginning of the reign of God on
earth, was aware that it was no longer held to the observance. This
enabled the Christian community to understand the laws and authoritative
acts of various peoples. Although lawful and worthy of being obeyed,[68]
they could never, inasmuch as they have their origin in such
authorities, claim to have a sacred character. In the light of the
Gospel, many laws and structures seem to bear the mark of sin and
prolong its oppressive influence on society.

IV. The New Commandment

Love, the gift of the Spirit

55. God's love, poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, involves
love of neighbor. Recalling the first commandment, Jesus immediately
adds: "And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as
yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets
(Mt. 22:39-40). And St. Paul says that love is the fulfillment of the
law.[69]

Love of neighbor knows no limits and includes enemies and
persecutors. The perfection which is the image of the Father's
perfection and for which the discipline must strive is found in
mercy.[70] The parable of the Good Samaritan shows that compassionate
love, which puts itself at the service of neighbor, destroys the
prejudices which set ethnic or social groups against one another.[71]
All of the New testament witnesses to the inexhaustible richness of the
sentiments which are included in Christian love of neighbor.[72]

Love of neighbor

56. Christian love, which seeks no reward and includes everyone,
receives it nature from the love of Christ who gave His life for us:
"Even as I have loved you...you also love one another" (Jn.
13:34-35).[73] This is the "new commandment" for the
disciples.

In the light of this commandment, St. James severely reminds the rich
of their duty,[74] and St. John says that a person who possesses the
riches of this world but who shuts his heart to his brother in need
cannot have the love of God dwelling in him.[75] Fraternal love is the
touchstone of the love of God: "He who does not love his brother
whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 Jn.
4:20). St. Paul strongly emphasizes the link between sharing in the
sacrament of the body and blood of Christ and sharing with one's
neighbor who is in need.[76]

Justice and charity

57. Evangelical love, and the vocation to be children of God to which
all are called, have as a consequence the direct and imperative
requirement of respect for all human beings in their rights to life and
to dignity. There is no gap between love of neighbor and desire for
justice. To contrast the two is to distort both love and justice.
Indeed, the meaning of mercy completes the meaning of justice by
preventing justice from shutting itself up within the circle of revenge.

The evil inequities and oppression of every kind which afflict
millions of men and women today openly contradict Christ's Gospel and
cannot leave the conscience of any Christian indifferent.

The Church, in her docility to the Spirit, goes forward faithfully
along the paths to authentic liberation. Her members are aware of their
failings and their delays in this quest. But a vast number of
Christians, from the time of the Apostles onwards, have committed their
powers and their lives to liberation from every form of oppression and
to the promotion of human dignity. The experience of the saints and the
example of so many works of service to one's neighbor are an incentive
and a beacon for the liberating undertakings that are needed today.

V. The Church, People of God of the New Covenant

Towards the fullness of freedom

58. The people of God of the New Covenant is the Church of Christ.
Her law is the commandment of love. In the hearts of her members the
Spirit dwells as in a temple. She is the seed and the beginning of the
kingdom of God here below, which will receive its completion at the end
of time with the resurrection of the dead and the renewal of the whole
of creation.[77]

Thus possessing the pledge of the Spirit,[78] the People of God is
led towards the fullness of freedom. The new Jerusalem which we
fervently await is rightly called the city of freedom in the highest
sense.[79] Then, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes and
death shall be no more, neither shall their be mourning nor crying nor
pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Rv. 21:4).
Hope is the certain expectation "of new heavens and of a new earth
where justice will dwell" (2 Pt. 3:13).

The final meeting with Christ

59. The transfiguration by the risen Christ of the Church at the end
of her pilgrimage in no way cancels out the personal destiny of each
individual at the end of his or her life. All those found worthy before
Christ's tribunal for having, by the grace of God, made good use of
their free will are to receive the reward of happiness.[80] They will be
made like to God, for they will see Him as He is.[81] The divine gift of
eternal happiness is the exaltation of the greatest freedom which can be
imagined.

Eschatological hope and the commitment for temporal liberation

60. This hope does not weaken commitment to the progress of the
earthly city, but rather gives it meaning and strength. It is of course
important to make a careful distinction between earthly progress and the
growth of the kingdom, which do not belong to the same order.
Nonetheless, this distinction is not a separation; for man's vocation to
eternal life does not suppress but confirms his task of using the
energies and means which he has received from the Creator for developing
his temporal life.[82]

Enlightened by the Lord's Spirit, Christ's Church can discern which
signs of the times advance liberation and those that are deceptive and
illusory. She calls man and societies to overcome situations of sin and
injustice and to establish the conditions for true freedom. She knows
that we shall rediscover all these good things—human dignity,
fraternal union and freedom—which are the result of efforts in harmony
with God's will, "washed clean of all stain, illuminated and
transfigured when Christ will hand over to the Father the eternal and
universal kingdom,"[83] which is a kingdom of freedom.

The vigilant and active expectation of the coming of the kingdom is
also the expectation of a finally perfect justice for the living and the
dead, for people of all times and places, a justice which Jesus Christ,
installed as supreme Judge, will establish.[84] This promise, which
surpasses all human possibilities, directly concerns our life in this
world. For true justice must include everyone; it must bring the answer
to the immense load of suffering borne by all generations. In fact,
without the resurrection of the dead and the Lord's judgment, there is
no justice in the full sense of the term. The promise of the
resurrection is freely made to meet the desire for true justice dwelling
in the human heart.

Chapter IV

The Liberating Mission of the Church

The Church and the anxieties of mankind

61. The Church is firmly determined to respond to the anxiety of
contemporary man as he endures oppression and yearns for freedom. The
political and economic running of society is not a direct part of her
mission.[85] But the Lord Jesus has entrusted to her the word of truth
which is capable of enlightening consciences. Divine love, which is her
life, impels her to a true solidarity with everyone who suffers. If her
members remain faithful to this mission, the Holy Spirit, the source of
freedom, will dwell in them, and they will bring forth fruits of justice
and peace in their families and in the places where they work and live.

I. For the Integral Salvation of the World

The beatitudes and the power of the Gospel

62. The Gospel is the power of eternal life, given even now to those
who receive it.[86] But by begetting people who are renewed,[87] this
power penetrates the human community and its history, thus purifying and
giving life to its activities. In this way it is a "root of
culture."[88]

The beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus express the perfection of
evangelical love, and they have never ceased to be lived throughout the
history of the Church by countless baptized individuals, and in an
eminent manner by the saints.

The beatitudes—beginning with the first, the one concerning the
poor—form a whole which itself must not be separated from the entirety
of the Sermon on the Mount.[89] In this sermon, Jesus, who is the new
Moses, gives a commentary on the Decalogue, the Law of the Covenant,
thus giving it its definitive and fullest meaning. Read and interpreted
in their full context, the beatitudes express the spirit of the kingdom
of God which is to come. But, in the light of the definitive destiny of
human history thus manifested, there simultaneously appear with a more
vivid clarity the foundations of justice in the temporal order.

For the beatitudes—by teaching trust which relies on God, hope of
eternal life, love of justice, and mercy which goes as far as pardon and
reconciliation—enables us to situate the temporal order in relation to
a transcendent order which gives the temporal order its true measure but
without taking away its own nature.

In the light of these things, the commitment necessary in temporal
tasks of service to neighbor and the human community is both urgently
demanded and kept in its right perspective. The beatitudes prevent us
from worshipping earthly goods and from committing the injustices which
their unbridled pursuit involves.[90] They also divert us from an
unrealistic and ruinous search for a perfect world, "for the form
of this world is passing away" (1 Cor. 7:31).

The proclamation of salvation

63. The Church's essential mission, following that of Christ, is a
mission of evangelization and salvation.[91] She draws her zeal from the
divine love. Evangelization is the proclamation of salvation, which is a
gift of God. Through the Word of God and the sacraments, man is freed in
the first place from the power of sin and the power of the Evil One
which oppresses him; and he is brought into a communion of love with
God. Following her Lord who "came into the world to save
sinners" (1 Tm. 1:15), the Church desires the salvation of all
peoples.

In this mission, the Church teaches the way which man must follow in
this world in order to enter the kingdom of God. Her teaching therefore
extends to the whole moral order, and notably to the justice which must
regulate human relations. This is part of the preaching of the Gospel.

But the love which impels the Church to communicate to all people a
sharing in the grace of divine life also causes her, through the
effective action of her members, to pursue people's true temporal good,
help them in their needs, provide for their education and promote an
integral liberation from everything that hinders the development of
individuals. The Church desires the good of man in all his dimensions,
first of all as a member of the city of God, and then as a member of the
earthly city.

Evangelization and the promotion of justice

64. Therefore, when the Church speaks about the promotion of justice
in human societies, or when she urges the faithful laity to work in this
sphere according to their own vocation, she is not going beyond her
mission. She is however concerned that this mission should not be
absorbed by preoccupations concerning the temporal order, or reduced to
such preoccupations. Hence she takes great care to maintain clearly and
firmly both the unity and the distinction between evangelization and
human promotion: unity because she seeks the good of the whole person;
distinction, because these two tasks enter, in different ways, into her
mission.

The Gospel and earthly realities

65. It is thus by pursuing her own finality that the Church sheds the
light of the Gospel on earthly realities in order that human beings may
be healed of their miseries and raised in dignity. The cohesion of
society in accordance with justice and peace is thereby promoted and
strengthened.[92] Thus the Church is being faithful to her mission when
she condemns the forms of deviation, slavery and oppression of which
people are victims.

She is being faithful to her mission when she opposes attempts to set
up a form of social life from which God is absent, whether by deliberate
opposition or by culpable negligence.[93]

She is likewise being faithful to her mission when she exercises her
judgment regarding political movements which seek to fight poverty and
oppression according to theories or methods of action which are contrary
to the Gospel and opposed to man himself.[94]

It is of course true that, with the energy of grace, evangelical
morality brings man new perspectives and new duties. But its purpose is
to perfect and elevate a moral dimension which already belongs to human
nature and with which the Church concerns herself in the knowledge that
this is a heritage belonging to all people by their very nature.

II. A Love of Preference for the Poor

Jesus and poverty

66. Christ Jesus, although He was rich, became poor in order to make
us rich by means of His poverty.[95] St. Paul is speaking here of the
mystery of the Incarnation of the eternal Son, who came to take on
mortal human nature in order to save man from the misery into which sin
had plunged him. Furthermore, in the human condition Christ chose a
state of poverty and deprivation[96] in order to show in what consists
the true wealth which ought to be sought, that of communion of life with
God. He taught detachment from earthly riches so that we might desire
the riches of heaven.[97] The Apostles whom He chose also had to leave
all things and share His deprivation.[98]

Christ was foretold by the prophets as the Messiah of the poor;[99]
and it was among the latter, the humble, the "poor of Yahweh,"
who were thirsting for the justice of the kingdom, that He found hearts
ready to receive Him. But He also wished to be near to those who, though
rich in the goods of this world, were excluded from the community as
"publicans and sinners," for He had come to call them to
conversion.[100]

It is this sort of poverty, made up of detachment, trust in God,
sobriety and a readiness to share, that Jesus declared blessed.

Jesus and the poor

67. But Jesus not only brought the grace and peace of God; He also
healed innumerable sick people; He had compassion on the crowd who had
nothing to eat and He fed them; with the disciples who followed Him He
practiced almsgiving.[101] Therefore the beatitude of poverty which He
proclaimed can never signify that Christians are permitted to ignore the
poor who lack what is necessary for human life in this world. This
poverty is the result and consequence of people's sin and natural
frailty, and it is an evil from which human beings must be freed as
completely as possible.

Love of preference for the poor

68. In its various forms—material deprivation, unjust oppression,
physical and psychological illnesses, and finally death—human misery
is the obvious sign of the natural condition of weakness in which man
finds himself since original sin and the sign of his need for salvation.
Hence it drew the compassion of Christ the Savior to take it upon
Himself[102] and to be identical with the least of His brethren (cf. Mt.
25:40, 45). Hence also those who are oppressed by poverty are the object
of a love of preference on the part of the Church, which since her
origin and in spite of the failings of many of her members has not
ceased to work for their relief, defense and liberation. She has done
this through numberless works of charity which remain always and
everywhere indispensable.[103] In addition, through her social doctrine
which she strives to apply, she has sought to promote structural changes
in society so as to secure conditions of life worthy of the human
person.

By detachment from riches, which makes possible sharing and opens the
gate of the kingdom,[104] the disciples of Jesus bear witness through
love for the poor and unfortunate to the love of the Father Himself
manifested in the Savior. This love comes from God and goes to God. The
disciples of Christ have always recognized in the gifts placed on the
altar a gift offered to God Himself.

In loving the poor, the Church also witnesses to man's dignity. She
clearly affirms that man is worth more for what he is than for what he
has. She bears witness to the fact that this dignity cannot be
destroyed, whatever the situation of poverty, scorn, rejection or
powerlessness to which a human being has been reduced. She shows her
solidarity with those who do not count in a society by which they are
rejected spiritually and sometimes even physically. She is particularly
drawn with maternal affection towards those children who, through human
wickedness, will never be brought forth from the womb to the light of
day, as also for the elderly, alone and abandoned.

The special option for the poor, far from being a sign of
particularism or sectarianism, manifests the universality of Church's
being and mission. This option excludes no one.

This is the reason why the Church cannot express this option by means
of reductive sociological and ideological categories which would make
this preference a partisan choice and a source of conflict.

Basic communities and other Christian groups

69. The new basic communities or other groups of Christians which
have arisen to be witnesses to this evangelical love are a source of
great hope for the Church. If they really live in unity with the local
Church and the universal Church, they will be a real expression of
communion and a means for constructing a still deeper communion.[105]
Their fidelity to their mission will depend on how careful they are to
educate their members in the fullness of the Christian Faith through
listening to the Word of God, fidelity to the teaching of the
Magisterium, to the hierarchical order of the Church and to the
sacramental life. If this condition is fulfilled, their experience,
rooted in a commitment to the complete liberation of man, becomes a
treasure for the whole Church.

Theological reflection

70. Similarly, a theological reflection developed from a particular
experience can constitute a very positive contribution, inasmuch as it
makes possible a highlighting of aspects of the Word of God, the
richness of which has not yet been fully grasped. But in order that this
reflection may be truly a reading of the Scripture and not a projection
onto the Word of God of a meaning which it does not contain, the
theologian will be careful to interpret the experience from which he
begins in the light of the experience of the Church herself. This
experience of the Church shines with a singular brightness and in all
its purity in the lives of the saints. It pertains to the pastors of the
Church, in communion with the Successor of Peter, to discern its
authenticity.

Chapter V

The Social Doctrine of the Church for a Christian Practice of
Liberation

The Christian practice of liberation

71. The salvific dimension of liberation cannot be reduced to the
socio-ethical dimension, which is a consequence of it. By restoring
man's true freedom, the radical liberation brought about by Christ
assigns to him a task: Christian practice, which is the putting into
practice of the great commandment of love. The latter is the supreme
principle of Christian social morality, founded upon the Gospel and the
whole of tradition since apostolic times and the age of the Fathers of
the Church up to and including the recent statements of the Magisterium.

The considerable challenges of our time constitute an urgent appeal
to put into practice this teaching on how to act.

I. Nature of the Social Doctrine of the Church

The Gospel message and social life

72. The Church's social teaching is born of the encounter of the
Gospel message and of its demands summarized in the supreme commandment
of love of God and neighbor in justice[106] with the problem emanating
from the life of society. This social teaching has established itself as
a doctrine by using the resources of human wisdom and the sciences. It
concerns the ethical aspect of this life. It takes into account the
technical aspects of problems but always in order to judge them from the
moral point of view.

Being essentially oriented towards action, this teaching develops in
accordance with the changing circumstances of history. This is why,
together with principles that are always valid, it also involves
contingent judgments. Far from constituting a closed system, it remains
constantly open to the new questions which continually arise; it
requires the contribution of all charisms, experiences and skills.

As an "expert in humanity," the Church offers by her social
doctrine a set of <principles for reflection> and <criteria for
judgment>[107] and also <directives for action>[108] so that
the profound changes demanded by situations of poverty and injustice may
be brought about, and this in a way which serves the true good of
humanity.

Fundamental principles

73. The supreme commandment of love leads to the full recognition of
the dignity of each individual, created in God's image. From this
dignity flow natural rights and duties. In the light of the image of
God, freedom, which is the essential prerogative of the human person, is
manifested in all its depth. Persons are the active and responsible
subjects of social life.[109]

Intimately linked to the <foundation>, which is man's dignity,
are the <principle of solidarity> and the <principle of
subsidiarity>.

By virtue of the first, man with his brothers is obliged to
contribute to the common good of society at all its levels.[110] Hence
the Church's doctrine is opposed to all forms of social or political
individualism.

By virtue of the second, neither the state nor any society must ever
substitute itself for the initiative and responsibility of individuals
and of intermediate communities at the level on which they can function,
nor must they take away the room necessary for their freedom.[111] Hence
the Church's social doctrine is opposed to all forms of collectivism.

Criteria for judgment

74. These principles are the basis of <criteria for making
judgments> on social <situations, structures> and
<systems>.

Thus the Church does not hesitate to condemn <situations> of
life which are injurious to man's dignity and freedom.

These criteria also make it possible to judge the value of
<structures>. These are the sets of institutions and practices
which people find already existing or which they create, on the national
and international level, and which orientate or organize economic,
social and political life. Being necessary in themselves, they often
tend to become fixed and fossilized as mechanisms relatively independent
of the human will, thereby paralyzing or distorting social development
and causing injustice. However, they always depend on the responsibility
of man, who can alter them, and not upon an alleged determinism of
history.

Institutions and laws, when they are in conformity with the natural
law and ordered to the common good, are the guarantees of people's
freedom and of the promotion of that freedom. One cannot condemn all the
constraining aspects of law, nor the stability of a lawful state worthy
of the name. One can therefore speak of structures marked by sin, but
one cannot condemn structures as such.

The criteria for judgment also concerns economic, social and
political <systems>. The social doctrine of the Church does not
propose any particular system; but, in the light of other fundamental
principles, she makes it possible at once to see to what extent existing
systems conform or do not conform to the demands of human dignity.

Primacy of persons over structures

75. The Church is of course aware of the complexity of the problems
confronting society and of the difficulties in finding adequate
solutions to them. Nevertheless she considers that the first thing to be
done is to appeal to the spiritual and moral capacities of the
individual and to the permanent need for inner conversion, if one is to
achieve the economic and social changes that will truly be at the
service of man.

The priority given to structures and technical organization over the
person and the requirements of his dignity is the expression of a
materialistic anthropology and is contrary to the construction of a just
social order.[112]

On the other hand, the recognized priority of freedom and of
conversion of heart in no way eliminates the need for unjust structures
to be changed. It is therefore perfectly legitimate that those who
suffer oppression on the part of the wealthy or the politically powerful
should take action, through morally licit means, in order to secure
structures and institutions in which their rights will be truly
respected.

It remains true however that structures established for people's good
are of themselves incapable of securing and guaranteeing that good. The
corruption which in certain countries affects the leaders and the state
bureaucracy, and which destroys all honest social life, is a proof of
this. Moral integrity is a necessary condition for the health of
society. It is therefore necessary to work simultaneously for the
conversion of hearts and for the improvement of structures. For the sin
which is at the root of unjust systems is, in a true and immediate
sense, a voluntary act which has its source in the freedom of
individuals. Only in a derived and secondary sense is it applicable to
structures, and only in this sense can one speak of "social
sin."[113]

Moreover, in the process of liberation, one cannot abstract from the
historical situation of the nation or attack the cultural identity of
the people. Consequently, one cannot passively accept—still less
actively support—groups which by force or by the manipulation of
public opinion take over the state apparatus and unjustly imposed on the
collectivity an imported ideology contrary to the culture of the
people.[114] In this respect, mention should be made of the serious
moral and political responsibility of intellectuals.

Guidelines for action

76. Basic principles and criteria for judgment inspire <guidelines
for action>. Since the common good of human society is at the service
of people, the means of action must be in conformity with human dignity
and facilitate education for freedom. A safe criterion for judgment and
action is this: there can be no true liberation if from the very
beginning the rights of freedom are not respected.

Systematic recourse to violence put forward as the necessary path to
liberation has to be condemned as a destructive illusion and one that
opens the way to new forms of servitude. One must condemn with equal
vigor violence exercised by the powerful against the poor, arbitrary
action by the police, and any form of violence established as a system
of government. In these areas one must learn the lessons of tragic
experiences which the history of the present century has known and
continues to know. Nor can one accept the culpable passivity of the
public powers in those democracies where the social situation of a large
number of men and women is far from corresponding to the demands of
constitutionally guaranteed individual and social rights.

A struggle for justice

77. When the Church encourages the creation and activity of
associations such as trade unions which fight for the defense of the
rights and legitimate interests of the workers and for social justice,
she does not thereby admit the theory that sees in the class struggle
the structural dynamism of social life. The action which she sanctions
is not the struggle of one class against another in order to eliminate
the foe. She does not proceed from a mistaken acceptance of an alleged
law of history. This action is rather a noble and reasoned struggle for
justice and social solidarity.[115] The Christian will always prefer the
path of dialogue and joint action.

Christ has command us to love our enemies.[116] Liberation in the
spirit of the Gospel is therefore incompatible with hatred of others,
taken individually or collectively, and this includes hatred of one's
enemy.

The my of revolution

78. Situations of grave injustice require the courage to make
far-reaching reforms and to suppress unjustifiable privileges. But those
who discredit the path of reform and favor the myth of revolution not
only foster the illusion that the abolition of an evil situation is in
itself sufficient to create a more human society; they also encourage
the setting up of totalitarian regimes.[117] The fight against injustice
is meaningless unless it is waged with a view to establishing a new
social and political order in conformity with the demands of justice.
Just must already mark each stage of the establishment of this new
order. There is a morality of means.[118]

A last resort

79. These principles must be especially applied in the extreme case
where there is recourse to armed struggle, which the Church's
Magisterium admits as a last resort to put an end to an obvious and
prolonged tyranny which is gravely damaging the fundamental rights of
individuals and the common good.[119] Nevertheless, the concrete
application of this means cannot be contemplated until there has been a
very rigorous analysis of the situation. Indeed, because of the
continual development of the technology of violence and the increasingly
serious dangers implied in its recourse, that which today is termed
"passive resistance" shows a way more conformable to moral
principles and having no less prospects for success. One can never
approve— whether perpetrated by an established power or insurgents—crimes
such as reprisals against the general population, torture, or methods of
terrorism and deliberate provocation aimed at causing deaths during
popular demonstrations. Equally unacceptable are the detestable smear
campaigns capable of destroying a person psychologically or morally.

The role of the laity

80. It is not for the pastors of the Church to intervene directly in
the political construction and organization of social life. This task
forms part of the vocation of the laity acting on their own initiative
with their fellow citizens.[120] They must fulfill this task conscious
of the fact that the purpose of the Church is to spread the kingdom of
Christ so that all men may be saved and that through them the world may
be effectively ordered to Christ.[121] The work of salvation is thus
seen to be indissolubly linked to the task of improving and raising the
conditions of human life in this world.

The distinction between the supernatural order of salvation and the
temporal order of human life must be seen in the context of God's
singular plan to recapitulate all things in Christ. Hence in each of
these spheres the lay person, who is at one and the same time a member
of the Church and a citizen of his country, just allow himself to be
constantly guided by his Christian conscience.[122]

Social action, which can involve a number of concrete means, will
always be exercised for the common good and in conformity with the
Gospel message and the teaching of the Church. It must be ensured that
the variety of options does not harm a sense of collaboration, or lead
to a paralysis of efforts or produce confusion among the Christian
people.

The orientation received from the social doctrine of the Church
should stimulate an acquisition of the essential technical and
scientific skills. The social doctrines of the Church will also
stimulate the seeking of moral formation of character and a deepening of
the spiritual life. While it offers principles and wise counsels, this
doctrine does not dispense from education in the political prudence
needed for guiding and running human affairs.

II. Evangelical Requirements for an In-depth Transformation

Need for a cultural transformation

81. Christians working to bring about that "civilization of
love" which will include the entire ethical and social heritage of
the Gospel are today faced with an unprecedented challenge. This task
calls for renewed reflection on what constitutes the relationship
between the supreme commandment of love and the social order considered
in all its complexity.

The immediate aim of this in-depth reflection is to work out and set
in motion ambitious programs aimed at the socio-economic liberation of
millions of men and women caught in an intolerable situation of
economic, social and political oppression.

This action must begin with an immense effort at education: education
for the civilization of work, education for solidarity, access to
culture for all.

The Gospel of work

82. The life of Jesus of Nazareth, a real "Gospel of work,"
offers us the living example and principle of the radical cultural
transformation which is essential for solving the grave problems which
must be faced by the age in which we live. He, who, though he was God,
became like us in all things, devoted the greater part of His earthly
life to manual labor.[123] The culture which our age awaits will be
marked by the full recognition of the dignity of human work, which
appears in all its nobility and fruitfulness in the light of the
mysteries of creation and redemption.[124] Recognized as an expression
of the person, work becomes a source of creative meaning and effort.

A true civilization of work

83. Thus the solution of most of the serious problems related to
poverty is to be found in the promotion of a true civilization of work.
In a sense, work is the key to the whole social question.[125]

It is therefore in the domain of work that priority must be given to
the action of liberation in freedom. Because the relationship between
the human person and work is radical and vital, the forms and models
according to which this relationship is regulated will exercise a
positive influence for the solution of a whole series of social and
political problems facing each people. Just work relationships will be a
necessary precondition for a system of political community capable of
favoring the integral development of every individual.

If the system of labor relations put into effect by those directly
involved—the workers and employers—with the essential support of the
public powers, succeeds in bringing into existence a civilization of
work, then there will take place a profound and peaceful revolution in
people's outlooks and in institutional and political structures.

National and international common good

84. A work culture such as this will necessarily presuppose and put
into effect a certain number of essential values. It will acknowledge
that the person of the worker is the principle, subject and purpose of
work. It will affirm the priority of work over capital and the fact that
material goods are meant for all.

It will be animated by a sense of solidarity involving not only
rights to be defended but also the duties to be performed. It will
involve participation, aimed at promoting the national and international
common good and not just defending individual or corporate interests. It
will assimilate the methods of confrontation and of frank and vigorous
dialogue.

As a result, the political authorities will become more capable of
acting with respect for the legitimate freedoms of individuals, families
and subsidiary groups; and they will thus create the conditions
necessary for man to be able to achieve his authentic and integral
welfare, including his spiritual goal.[126]

The value of human work

85. A culture which recognizes the eminent dignity of the worker will
emphasize the subjective dimension of work.[127]

The value of any human work does not depend on the kind of work done;
it is based on the fact that the one who does it is a person.[128] There
we have an ethical criterion whose implications cannot be overlooked.

Thus every person has a right to work, and this right must be
recognized in a practical way by an effective commitment to resolving
the tragic problem of unemployment. The fact that unemployment keeps
large sectors of the population and notably the young in a situation of
marginalization is intolerable For this reason the creation of jobs is a
primary social task facing individuals and private enterprise, as well
as the state. As a general rule, in this as in other matters, the state
has a subsidiary function; but often it can be called upon to intervene
directly, as in the case of international agreements between different
states. Such agreements must respect the rights of immigrants and their
families.[129]

Promoting participation

86. Wages, which cannot be considered as a mere commodity must enable
the worker and his family to have access to a truly human standard of
living in the material, social, cultural and spiritual orders. It is the
dignity of the person which constitutes the criterion for judging work,
not the other way around. Whatever the type of work, the worker must be
able to perform it as an expression of his personality. There follows
from this the necessity of a participation which, over and above a
sharing in the fruits of work, should involve a truly communitarian
dimension at the level of projects, undertakings and
responsibilities.[130]

Priority of work over capital

87. The priority of work over capital places an obligation in justice
upon employers to consider the welfare of the workers before the
increase of profits. They have a moral obligation not to keep capital
unproductive and, in making investments, to think first of the common
good. The latter requires a prior effort to consolidate jobs or create
new ones in the production of goods that are really useful.

The right to private property is inconceivable without
responsibilities to the common good. It is subordinated to the higher
principle which states that goods are meant for all.[131]

In-depth reforms

88. This teaching must inspire reforms before it is too late. Access
for everyone to the goods needed for a human, person and family life
worthy of the name is a primary demand of social justice. It requires
application in the sphere of industrial work and in a particular way in
the area of agricultural work.[132] Indeed, rural peoples, especially in
the Third World, make up the vast majority of the poor.[133]

III. Promotion of Solidarity

A new solidarity

89. Solidarity is a direct requirement of human and supernatural
brotherhood. The serious socio-economic problems which occur today
cannot be solved unless new fronts of solidarity are created: solidarity
of the poor among themselves, solidarity with the poor to which the rich
are called, solidarity among the workers and with the workers.
Institutions and social organizations at different levels, as well as
the state, must share in a general movement of solidarity. When the
Church appeals for such solidarity, she is aware that she herself is
concerned in a quite special way.

Goods are meant for all

90. The principle that goods are meant for all, together with the
principle of human and supernatural brotherhood, express the
responsibilities of the richer countries towards the poorer ones. These
responsibilities include: solidarity in aiding the developing countries,
social justice through a revision in correct terms of commercial
relationships between North and South, a promotion of a more human world
for all—a world in which each individual can give and receive, and in
which the progress of some will no longer be an obstacle to the
development of others, nor a pretext for their enslavement.[134]

Aid for development

91. International solidarity is a necessity of the moral order. It is
essential not only in cases of extreme urgency but also for aiding true
development. This is a shared task, which requires a concerted and
constant effort to find concrete technical solutions and also to create
a new mentality among our contemporaries. World peace depends on this to
a great extent.[135]

IV. Cultural and Educational Tasks

Right to education and culture

92. The unjust inequalities in the possession and use of material
goods are accompanied and aggravated by similarly unjust inequalities in
the opportunity for culture. Every human being has a right to culture,
which is the specific mode of a truly human existence to which one gains
access through the development of one's intellectual capacities, moral
virtues, abilities to relate with other human beings, and talents for
creating things which are useful and beautiful. From this flows the
necessity of promoting and spreading education, to which every
individual has an inalienable right. The first condition for this is the
elimination of illiteracy.[136]

Respect for cultural freedom

93. The right of each person to culture is assured only if cultural
freedom is respected. Too often culture is debased by ideology, and
education is turned into an instrument at the service of political and
economic power. It is not within the competence of the public
authorities to determine culture. Their function is to promote and
protect the cultural life of everyone, including that of
minorities.[137]

The educational task of the family

94. The task of educating belongs fundamentally and primarily to the
family. The function of the state is subsidiary: its role is to
guarantee, protect, promote and supplement. Whenever the state lays
claim to an educational monopoly, it oversteps its rights and offends
justice. It is parents who have the right to choose the school to which
they send their children and the right to set up and support educational
centers in accordance with their own beliefs. The state cannot, without
injustice, merely tolerate so-called private schools. Such schools
render a public service and therefore have a right to financial
assistance.[138]

Freedoms and sharing

95. The education which gives access to culture is also education in
the responsible exercise of freedom. That is why there can be authentic
development only in a social and political system which respects
freedoms and fosters them through the participation of everyone. This
participation can take different forms; it is necessary in order to
guarantee a proper pluralism in institutions and in social initiatives.
It ensures, notably by the real separation between the powers of the
state, the exercise of human rights, also protecting them against
possible abuses on the part of the public powers. No one can be excluded
from this participation in social and political life for reasons of sex,
race, color, social condition, language or religion.[139] Keeping people
on the margins of cultural, social and political life constitutes in
many nations one of the most glaring injustices of our time.

When the political authorities regulate the exercise of freedoms,
they cannot use the pretext of the demands for public order and security
in order to curtail those freedoms systematically. Nor can the alleged
principle of national security, or a narrowly economic outlook, or a
totalitarian concept of social life, prevail over the value of freedom
and its rights.[140]

The challenge of inculturation

96. Faith inspires criteria of judgment, determining values, lines of
thought and patterns of living which are valid for the whole human
community.[141] Hence the Church, sensitive to the anxieties of our age,
indicates the lines of a culture in which work would be recognized in
its full human dimension and in which all would find opportunities for
personal self-fulfillment. The Church does this by virtue of her
missionary outreach for the integral salvation of the world, with
respect for the identity of each people and nation.

The Church, which is a communion that unites diversity and unity
through her presence in the whole world, takes from every culture the
positive elements which she finds there. But inculturation is not simply
an outward adaptation; it is an intimate transformation of authentic
cultural values by their integration into Christianity and the planting
of Christianity in the different human cultures.[142] Separation between
the Gospel and culture is a tragedy of which the problems mentioned are
a sad illustration. A generous effort to evangelize cultures is
therefore necessary. These cultures will be given fresh life by their
encounter with the Gospel. But this encounter presupposes that the
Gospel is truly proclaimed.[143] Enlightened by the Second Vatican
Council, the Church wishes to devote all her energies to this task, so
as to evoke and immense liberating effort.

Conclusion

The canticle of the <Magnificat>

97. <Blessed is she who believed> (Lk. 1:45). At Elizabeth's
greeting, the heart of the Mother of God burst into the song of the
<Magnificat>. It tells us that it is by faith and in faith like
that of Mary that the People of God express in words and translate into
life the mysterious plan of salvation with its liberating effects upon
individual and social existence. It is really in the light of faith that
one comes to understand how salvation history is the history of
liberation from evil in its most radical form and of the introduction of
humanity into the true freedom of the children of God. Mary is totally
dependent on her Son and completely directed towards Him by the impulse
of her faith; and, at His side, she is the most perfect image of freedom
and of the liberation of humanity and of the universe. It is to her as
Mother and Model that the Church must look in order to understand in its
completeness the meaning of her own mission.

It is altogether remarkable that the sense of faith found in the poor
leads not only to an acute perception of the mystery of the redeeming
cross but also to a love and unshakable trust in the Mother of the Son
of God, who is venerated in so many shrines.

The <sensus fidei> of the people of God

98. Pastors and all those who, as priests, laity or men and women
religious, often work under very difficult conditions for evangelization
and integral human advancement, should be filled with hope when they
think of the amazing resources of holiness contained in the living faith
of the People of God. These riches of the <sensus fidei> must be
given the chance to come to full flowering and bear abundant fruit. To
help the faith of the poor to express itself clearly and to be
translated into life, through a profound meditation on the plan of
salvation as it unfolds itself in the Virgin of the <Magnificat>—this
is a noble ecclesial task which awaits the theologian.

Thus a theology of freedom and liberation with faithfully echoes
Mary's <Magnificat> preserved in the Church's memory is something
needed by the times in which we are living. But it would be criminal to
take the energies of popular piety and misdirect them towards a purely
earthly plan of liberation, which would very soon be revealed as nothing
more than an illusion and a cause of new forms of slavery. Those who in
this way surrender to the ideologies of the world and to the alleged
necessity of violence are no longer being faithful to hope, to hope's
boldness and courage, as they are extolled in the hymn of the God of
mercy which the Virgin teaches us.

Dimensions of an authentic liberation

99. The <sensus fidei> grasps the very core of the liberation
accomplished by the Redeemer. It is from the most radical evil, from sin
and the power of death, that He has delivered us in order to restore
freedom to itself and to show it the right path. This path is marked out
by the supreme commandment, which is the commandment of love.

Liberation, in its primary meaning which is salvific, thus extends
into a liberating task, as an ethical requirement. Here is to be found
the social doctrine of the Church, which illustrates Christian practice
on the level of society.

The Christian is called to act according to the truth,[144] and thus
to work for the establishment of that "civilization of love"
of which Pope Paul VI spoke.[145] The present document, without claiming
to be complete, has indicated some of the directions in which it is
urgently necessary to undertake in-depth reforms. The primary task,
which is a condition for the success of all the others, is an
educational one. The love which guides commitment must henceforth bring
into being new forms of solidarity. To the accomplishment of these tasks
urgently facing the Christian conscience, all people of good will are
called.

It is the truth of the mystery of salvation at work today in order to
lead redeemed humanity towards the perfection of the kingdom which gives
the true meaning to the necessary efforts for liberation in the
economic, social and political orders and which keeps them from falling
into new forms of slavery.

The task that lies ahead

100. It is true that before the immensity and the complexity of the
task, which can require the gift of self even to an heroic degree, many
are tempted to discouragement, skepticism or the recklessness of
despair. A formidable challenge is made to hope, both theological and
human. The loving Virgin of the <Magnificat>, who enfolds the
Church and humanity in her prayer, is the firm support of hope. For in
her we contemplate the victory of divine love which no obstacle can hold
back, and we discover to what sublime freedom God raises up the lowly.
Along the path which she shows us, the faith which works through love
must go forward with great resolve.[146]

During an audience granted to the undersigned Prefect, His Holiness,
Pope John Paul II, approved this instruction, adopted in an ordinary
session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and ordered
it to be published.

Given at Rome, from the Congregation, March 22, 1986, the Solemnity
of the Annunciation of Our Lord.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Prefect

Alberto Bovone

Titular Archbishop of Caesarea in Numidia
Secretary

Endnotes

1. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Certain
Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation" (<Libertatis
nuntius>), Introduction, AAS 76 (1984), pp. 867-877.

2. Cf. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
(<Gaudium a spes>) and the Declaration on Religious Freedom
(<Dignitatis humanae>) of the Second Vatican Council; the
Encyclicals <Mater et magistra>, <Pacem in terris,>
<Populorum progressio,> <Redemptor hominis> and <Laborem
exercens>; the Apostolic Exhortations <Evangelii nuntiandi> and
<Reconciliatio et paenitentia>; the Apostolic Letter <Octogesima
adveniens.> Pope John Paul II dealt with this theme in his
<Opening Address to the Third General Conference of the
Latin-American Episcopate at Puebla:> AAS 71 (1979), pp. 187-205. He
has returned to it on numerous other occasions. The theme has also been
dealt with at the Synod of Bishops in 1971 and 1974. The Latin-American
Episcopal Conferences have made it the immediate object of their
reflections. It has also attracted the attention of other Episcopal
Conferences, as for example the French: <Liberation des hommes et
salut en Jesus Christ>, 1975.

20. Cf. Gn. 2: 18, 23, "It is not good that man should be
alone."..."This is flesh of my flesh and bone of my
bones." In these words of Scripture, which refer directly to the
relationship between man and woman, one can discern a more universal
meaning. Cf. Lv. 19:18.

21. Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical <Pacem in terris,> 5-15: AAS 55
(1963), pp. 259-265; John Paul II, <Letter to Dr. Kurt Waldheim,
Secretary General of the United Nations,> on the occasion of the
Thirtieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights: AAS
71 (1979), p. 122; <The Pope's Speech to the United Nations,> 9:
AAS 71 (1979), p. 1149.

133. Cf. <Document of the Second General Conference of the
Latin-American Episcopate at Medellin,> Justice, 1, 9; <Document
of the Third General Conference of the Latin-American Episcopate at
Puebla,> 31, 35, 1245.

145. Cf. Paul VI, <General Audience> of December 31, 1975:
<L'Osservatore Romano,> January 1, 1976, p. 1. John Paul II took
up this idea again in the <Discourse to the "Meeting for
Friendship Between People"> of August 29, 1982:
<L'Osservatore Romano,> August 30-31, 1982. The Latin-American
Bishops also alluded to this idea in the <Message to the Peoples of
Latin America,> 8, and in the <Puebla Document,> 1188 and 1192.